blog posts Campus announces new University Librarian designate Feb 17, 2023 11:15 am Claire Stewart has been selected as the next Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian Designate beginning May 16, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. U of I teams to participate in national program to advocate undergrad research Oct 17, 2022 8:00 am Four teams of Illinois faculty, staff, and undergraduate researchers were selected to take part in a new program to build national awareness of the benefits of undergraduate research as a high-impact educational practice. Football student season ticket holders to get priority access to men’s basketball tickets May 24, 2023 11:15 am Illinois students who purchase Fighting Illini football season tickets will receive priority access to men's basketball season tickets. Entertainment lineup set for Grange Grove tailgating season Aug 8, 2023 10:30 am Grange Grove has live music, a kids' zone, the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network pregame radio show and more. Grange Grove opens each gameday at 7 a.m. CT, and pregame entertainment begins three hours prior to kickoff. 'Cold War: Illinois Stories' wins Mid-America Regional Emmy Award Nov 3, 2022 4:45 pm “Cold War: Illinois Stories” won the Mid-America Regional Emmy Award for best magazine program. It was the seventh Emmy for producer Tim Hartin, and the cap to his thirty year career at Illinois. Follow the Fighting Illini in the Paris Olympics Jul 25, 2024 9:15 am Five former Fighting Illini, one current student-athlete, and one current assistant coach will represent the Orange and Blue at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. Milk to the rescue for diabetics? Illinois project creates first insulin-producing cow Mar 13, 2024 10:45 am An unassuming brown bovine from the south of Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk. Professor Matt Wheeler helped develop the breakthrough bovine. 'Cape lions' had an extremely rich variety of genes before extinction Mar 21, 2024 3:00 pm Earth.com (March 20) U of I researchers utilized genomics to explore whether the extinct Cape lion still influences the gene pool of existing lions, revealing unexpected genetic diversity. Chancellor Robert J. Jones named 2025 Commencement speaker Mar 13, 2025 3:30 pm Jones announced last November that he would be ending his time as the longest serving chancellor at Illinois since that position was created. But before he goes, he'll speak to his final U. of I. graduating class. Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch Apr 3, 2025 9:45 am The aptamers - short single-strand snippets of DNA that can target molecules like larger antibodies do - not only deliver cancer-fighting drugs, but also are themselves toxic to the cancer stem cells, the researchers said. Meet the Downing Brothers: The first black men with a show on HGTV Sep 27, 2022 2:15 pm Black Enterprise (Sept. 27) Identical twins Anthony and Anton Downing, both U of I grads, became the first Black men to get their own HGTV pilot. They make it a point to show Black men in a positive light. Welcome to our newly admitted Class of 2028! Mar 1, 2024 2:30 pm We understand your concerns regarding the current financial aid delays, and we're sorry this is happening! If needed, we will change our FAFSA and college commitment deadlines. Our decision to change our deadlines will be announced no later than March 15. U of I's ballbot wheelchair may be the future of mobility assistance Mar 22, 2023 9:45 am The ballbot wheelchair may be the future of mobility assistance. Researchers from across the U of I have created a robotic wheelchair that uses a single, rolling ball to provide a handsfree, intuitive, and flexible device for users. Genetically engineered plants: A glow in the dark petunia, bright purple tomatoes Feb 16, 2024 9:30 am Scientific American (Feb. 14) You can now pre-order a genetically engineered plant that glows continuously. 'People’s reactions to genetically modified plants are complicated,' says Steven Burgess, a U of I professor of plant biology. Unprecedented compound takes a step toward breast cancer clinical trials Nov 27, 2023 10:30 am TEQ103 targets estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) positive breast cancer cells and kills only the cells with an activated stress response, the so-called a-UPR. Alumnus Nate Reichard donates $5 million to elevate real estate program Apr 25, 2025 8:45 am Gies College of Business has received a $5 million gift from alumnus Nate Reichard, CEO of Reichard Capital. In recognition, the Real Estate Finance Academy will be renamed the 'Reichard Real Estate Academy.' A century after his championships, world-famous steer welcomes visitors to Stock Pavilion Aug 17, 2022 11:45 am A statue of Broadus White Socks, a world-famous, two-time prize-winning steer (1922), installed at the south entrance of the Stock Pavilion, caps decades of renovations there. Read Broadus's facinating life story, and his post-life story. Surprise computer science proof by U of I student, colleague stuns mathematicians Mar 22, 2023 5:00 pm Quanta Magazine (March 21) 'My best idea for how to make progress on this problem [was] to actually improve the tool itself, not to use it in a more clever way,' said U of I grad student Zander Kelley. USS Illinois: The forgotten Iowa-class battleship the Navy never finished Feb 23, 2024 8:45 am The National Interest (Feb. 21) The ship’s bell was finished, and you can see the bell at the U. of I.’s Memorial Stadium, where Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps students strike the bell to signal touchdowns. Grange Grove football tailgating reservations open for 2023 Jul 7, 2023 10:30 am Starting this season, fans will be required to reserve tailgate spaces in advance, ensuring a safe and organized environment for all attendees. Space reservations will be provided free of charge. A deaf football team and the birth of the huddle Sep 21, 2022 1:00 pm The Guardian (Sept. 21) Legendary U. of I. coach Robert Zuppke, who is widely credited as the inventor of the huddle, admitted that he got the idea from a deaf football team. Why you want bats in your yard — and how to attract them Jul 28, 2023 10:00 am Washington Post (July 27) 'Plant long-lived trees like oaks, which will provide both foraging and roosting habitat,' says Professor Joy O’Keefe. Also, fast-growing trees like pines will provide roosting space under the bark, or in cavities inside dead branches. Gen Z’s ‘life-changing’ new way of getting what they want - without having to work for it Jan 10, 2023 1:15 pm New York Post (Jan. 9) When U of I student Samantha Palazzolo heard about so-called Lucky Girl Syndrome, she decided to try it. Palazzolo told herself every morning that she would have a lucky day. Lo and behold, it worked. LK-99 isn’t a superconductor — how science sleuths solved the mystery Aug 18, 2023 3:00 pm Nature (Aug. 16) Researchers were 'very precise about (the temperature at which LK-99 showed a tenfold drop in resistivity): 104.8 C,' says Prashant Jain, a professor of chemistry at Illinois. 'I was like, wait a minute, I know this temperature.' Can birthright citizenship be repealed? Dec 5, 2024 10:45 am Birthright citizenship was enacted as part of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and no president has the authority to eliminate or modify a constitutional amendment, says immigration law expert Michael LeRoy. Spooky Spaces at U of I: The steam tunnels Oct 28, 2022 10:30 am You can't go inside them - they're dangerous and you'd be arrested - but the steam tunnels under the campus serve important functions. Plus, the old brick tunnelways produce weird noises that complete their creepy image. Five years and $150 million later, what a mega-business school can do Oct 27, 2022 2:15 pm Poets & Quants (Oct. 27) Larry and Beth Gies returned to Illinois to celebrate all that their pledge has helped to make possible. The list of achievements for what became the Gies College of Business is extraordinary by any standard. U of I celebrates Memorial Stadium 100th Anniversary in 2024 Jan 10, 2024 11:15 am Illinois is set to host Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 19 - 100 years and one day from Red Grange's historic six-touchdown game at the stadium's opening. 100th anniversary celebrations are planned throughout the year. America's greatest AI visionary is... an English professor at Illinois Dec 6, 2023 3:45 pm Business Insider (Dec. 6) In a world filled with artificial intelligence skeptics and chatbot alarmists, Illinois English professor Ted Underwood is making one of the strongest, most compelling cases for the value of artificial intelligence. Champaign-raised, U of I grad actor gets Broadway shot in 'Hamilton' Feb 1, 2023 11:15 am News Gazette (Feb. 1) Jonathan Butler-Duplessis, a Champaign schools and U of I grad, will make his Broadway debut Thursday, playing the iconic Aaron Burr from hit rap-musical 'Hamilton.' Monogamous prairie voles reveal the neurobiology of love Jan 17, 2023 11:45 am Scientific American (Jan. 17) Nearly 50 years ago, U of I ecologist Lowell Getz discovered that prairie voles were monogamous. His research teams went on to document their social behaviors and the hormones that underpin them. Preserving Illinois forests, one landowner at a time Apr 28, 2023 10:15 am Illinois Extension forestry and research specialist Christopher Evans describes leading the first field day of a Beginning Forest Landowner Program to give landowners the experience, skills and connections needed to better manage their forests. U.S. mortgage rates drop sharply, with 30-year at 6.47% Aug 12, 2024 10:45 am New York Times (Aug. 8) The lower mortgage rate could encourage some homeowners to get into the market, says Professor Julia Fonseca. 'But we still have a ways to go if we consider how low these rates that people have locked in actually are.' No. 24 Women's Basketball headed to Minnesota, first test as ranked squad Jan 14, 2023 1:00 pm Illinois women's basketball is back in action at Minnesota on Sunday, Jan. 15, with a 2 p.m. CT tip. Illinois is off to a 14-3 start under first year head coach Shauna Green, one of the best starts in program history. Reflecting on Thurgood Marshall's speech at U of I in 1956 Jan 17, 2024 10:15 am On March 8, 1956, future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall visited the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to talk about his work, the many cases of segregation in Illinois, and the murder of Emmett Till. There's a new sculpture on the Quad - and it's MAMMOTH Mar 23, 2023 4:15 pm The next, and past, big thing: The great wooly mammoth is back… Visible to all, not an apparition… Near the University of Illinois Main Quad. A huge number of homeowners have mortgage rates too good to give up Apr 15, 2024 3:30 pm New York Times (April 15) The average American household has a fixed rate mortgage that’s a whopping three points lower than new mortgage rates. 'You could think of your locked-in rate as an asset that you own,' says U of I professor Julia Fonseca. Why reports of period weirdness after covid shots were ignored Apr 18, 2023 10:30 am The Washington Post (April 18) U of I anthropology professor Kate Clancy writes about her research into the menstrual side effects of coronavirus vaccines and how early claims of such side effects were ignored and ridiculed. Big Ten Tournament bracket set for men's basketball Mar 10, 2025 8:15 am Seventh seed Fighting Illini will open play in Indianapolis in round 2 on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on BTN. They'll face the winner of the round 1 matchup between 10th-seeded Ohio State and 15th-seeded Iowa. Fighting Illini take No. 25 spot in AP poll Feb 17, 2025 4:15 pm Illinois women's basketball has re-entered the national rankings, coming in at No. 25 in the AP Top-25 poll. On an eight-game winning streak, the Fighting Illini hold a 21-5 record overall,11-4 in Big Ten play. Jurassic Patent: How Colossal Biosciences is attempting to own the 'woolly mammoth' Apr 17, 2025 12:15 pm MIT Technology Review (April 16) 'Any animal with woolly mammoth genes falls under the claims' of this Texas startup company trying to bring back extinct species, says U. of I. law professor Jacob Sherkow. Illinois Men's Golf selected to host 2025 NCAA Regionals at Atkins Golf Club Oct 4, 2024 3:45 pm For the first time in program history, the U. of I. men's golf team will host an NCAA postseason tournament as of one of six NCAA Regional sites from May 12-14 at Atkins Golf Club. Four U of I students awarded Boren funding for overseas language study Apr 26, 2023 3:30 pm Graduate student Maxine Katz and undergraduates Neel Khattri, Kellie Sucha and Tina Wayne have received prestigious Boren Awards for study abroad during the 2023-24 academic year. Charles Lee Isbell Jr. named 11th chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Jun 5, 2025 10:15 am Introducing Charles Lee Isbell Jr., the 11th chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Isbell comes to Illinois from UW-Madison, where he was provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs since August 2023. His term as Illinois chancellor starts July 16, pending Board of Trustees approval. #FakeTok: How to create your own truth filter for TikTok Jul 31, 2023 10:45 am Chicago Sun-Times (July 27) U. of I. information sciences researcher Rachel Magee says that despite confusing messages circulating on social media, it can be a healthy place for young people to develop ideas and social circles. Why do we love horror films? Oct 25, 2022 9:45 am Horror films dominate Netflix queues right now. English professor Jim Hansen spoke about why we love horror. He says it’s because horror films let us 'choose the shape of our fears and then to face up to those fears.' Coleman Hawkins: Family Man Mar 6, 2023 11:45 am For Coleman Hawkins, Fighting Illini power forward, family is at the heart of everything. To really know him, you have to know his family. Carle Illinois College of Medicine behind research that may help detect concussions Nov 27, 2023 10:45 am WGN-TV (Nov. 21) New research from the U. of I. may help doctors do a better job of detecting concussions. U. of I. medical student Annabelle Shaffer discusses the new study. What does the film 'Oppenheimer' tell us about the development of the atomic bomb? Aug 1, 2023 10:15 am 'Oppenheimer' examines the process of building an organization of unprecedented scale and wrestles with how to view one individual’s decisions as relevant in the face of such a massive system, says Dean Kevin Hamilton. Before Jackie Robinson, Jorge Pasquel broke baseball’s color barrier — in Mexico Dec 7, 2022 11:15 am L.A. Times (Dec. 7) The Mexican League fully integrated pro baseball. It 'meant that you see each other as equals,' says U of I's Adrian Burgos. 'You share the locker room, the dugout space. It is a different dimension.'